PERSONAL NEWS #145
Tuesday, June 3rd, I attended the monthly Knit & Crochet meeting at IBM Atrium. I arrived around 7:15pm and walked around the atrium abit. Encountered Arlene and Lauren, then we got a table to hangout for about 45 minutes or so. Very nice ladies and they were knitting items, plus showed me how to do a “pearl” stitch. As to this latter bit, I had some difficulty comprehending it and really need to practice more.

On Thursday evening, June 5th, after work I headed over to Dress Barn to check out the 50% off suit sale. I tried on several fully lined fall / winter suits before getting a nice grey pinstripe for $59. Nice deal! From there I jumped on the F train and headed to Park Slope in Brooklyn for the weekly Knitters meetup. Since the weather was nice and comfortable, we were all sitting in the café’s garden dining area. I noshed on some delicious Chocolate Molten cake while I socialized with the other knitters, admire some lovely projects / yarns, plus learn and practice an easier version of the pearl stitch. Thank you Barbara! It was an enjoyable evening and we literally closed the café at 10pm.

Friday evening, June 6th, I volunteered with the City Harvest gang down at Union Square farmers market.

On Saturday morning, June 7th, I hopped onto a bus at Port Authority to visit my friend Sheila in New Jersey. From the bus stop we drove back to Sheila’s apartment for a tasty bagel brunch in her cool apartment. She’s done more decorating with her place since I was there in August 2007 and it’s quite charming, plus has a terrace. I would love an apartment with a terrace or patio. Great place to spend leisurely time or entertaining friends. [Weather report for the day was hot, humid and sunny.] Before driving over to Princeton, we stopped at a yard sale and I made several purchases. I got some great deals. We arrived into Princeton just before noon and found parking on Nassau Street near Thomas Sweets Café. Strolled onto the university grounds and headed for the art museum. Very nice museum with a little bit of everything on display and there is no admission fee, plus it was air conditioned. Before entering the museum we took some time to admire and photograph the large sculpture outside. The sculpture is by Magdalena Abakanowicz called “Big Figures”. Afterwards we strolled around the University grounds for abit before heading over to Thomas Sweets for some delicious ice cream. This place is delightful, I highly recommend it, plus the way they blend the yummy ice cream with toppings is terrific. Heavenly! Drove around Princeton to locate some shops we were interested in checking out and accidentally headed down the wrong way of a one-way street in trying to find parking. Cars and trucks coming from the other direction were not pleased with us. I made some purchases in “A Place to Bead” and Sheila did likewise in “Pins & Needles”. At this point we were both warm from the weather and tired feet from walking, so we drove back to the apartment to relax. Before heading back to NYC, we went out for a leisurely Chinese dinner at a local place. Overall it was an enjoyable, nice outing and I so like the town of Princeton. [Photos coming soon………….]

Monday evening, June 9th, I participated in City Harvest “volunteer leader” orientation at Union Square’s farmers market. It was so warm and muggy outside that day. Humidity can be fierce in NYC, especially on the subway platforms.

Tuesday evening, June 10th, I joined other members of the PDA CD14 meeting at Alice’s place on upper eastside of Manhattan. Even though I’m not part of CD14, I am very much interested in the work of this PDA group, plus I know many of the members from past Democrat campaigns. Majority of the meeting, apart from Adam Sullivan’s [Democrat candidate for CD8] visit, was on many topics [ie: town hall mtg, impeachment, DU, outreach, media, e-newsletter, local issues, listserve, and expenses]. Meeting broke up shortly after 9pm and let me tell you, mon dieu, the walk back to the subway on Lexington Avenue from York Avenue was intense. I headed to the subway with Scott along 86th Street and the weather whipped up like a friggin hurricane. Wind was fiercely blowing dirt, debris and people all over the place. I had to put on my sunglasses to protect my eyes from the dirt, as well as to see where I was going. We could see lightening to the west and feel droplets of rain. By the time I arrived home 40 minutes later the storm had passed and it was cooler outside.

On Wednesday, June 11th, I received a call from City Councilman White’s legislative aid regarding a fax sent on June 3rd about DoP Resolution 627. [How will this resolution benefit the NYC area?] They want to meet with NYDoP CCR Committee and asked if we’d give a presentation on Dept of Peace. Absolutely! Hell yeah! This was exciting news and after the call I promptly got on the phone with the other members of CCR Committee. WooHoo!

On Thursday evening, June 12th, I joined the other two members [ie: Kevin & Joe] of NYDoP CCR Committee for a conference call. The three of us gave our updated reports since last call end of May, plus we discussed at length what planning we need to accomplish for this upcoming 30-minute meeting/presentation. Stay tuned for more updates as they develop. The next day I did a follow up voicemail with White’s legislative aid.

Saturday, June 14th, I joined other members of the local Harry Potter meetup group at Riverside Park field for a rousing game of Quidditch. Yep, that’s right folks, Quidditch! This was my first match as spectator and was curious as to how the wizarding game of Quidditch could be pulled off without flying broomsticks. Both teams [ie: Central Park Centaurs & Manhattan Marauders] still had a keeper, three chasers, two beaters and one seeker. The quaffle was a soccer ball and the bludgers were two brown rubber balls about the size of a bowling ball. As an added bonus, the meetup group also had two energetic teens as golden snitches. The Quidditch pitch is set up somewhat similar to that in the books; but is played like soccer, basketball and rugby all wrapped into one. Let the games begin! Due to the weather being humid and warm the match had several “rest periods” for players to refresh themselves with water. Overall it was a fun game to watch and I believe the Marauders won when their seeker caught the golden snitch. [A group photo coming soon.] Afterwards our group of 15+ traipsed off to a café called “Toast” on Broadway for a tasty brunch and fun, interesting conversations. From there I headed home and enjoyed a viewing marathon of season one of LOST on DVD, even while it stormed outside through the night. Next weekend I’ll jump into season two of LOST.

On Thursday evening, June 19th, I headed down to Park Slope for the knitters meetup at Sweet Melissa café. This was my third meetup with the group and like before I had an enjoyable time, plus always learning some new tidbit about knitting. It was great chatting with several of the group members, as well as admiring different projects. I was advised that the Quiche du Jour is quite good, as well as affordable, so I ordered it for dinner. They were right, it was delicious. One of the ladies I was speaking with said she’d help me learn to crochet granny squares. I want to make an afghan throw for my living room and hopefully have it done by the winter. It’s good to have goals.

Friday evening, June 20th, I volunteered with the City Harvest gang down at Union Square farmers market.